


Hijinks at Tate Hill Farms

by Tacosaretasty1989



Category: Wynonna Earp (TV)
Genre: Activism, F/F, High School, One Shot, Tranquilizer Dart, band practice
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-24
Updated: 2020-01-24
Packaged: 2021-02-27 15:54:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,194
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22389748
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tacosaretasty1989/pseuds/Tacosaretasty1989
Summary: Remember when Waverly mentioned getting shot with a tranquilizer dart but still made it to band practice? This is how I imagine it happening, but in this re-imagining, Nicole is there and they are all in high school together.
Relationships: Jeremy Chetri/Robin, Waverly Earp/Nicole Haught
Comments: 14
Kudos: 94





	Hijinks at Tate Hill Farms

**Author's Note:**

> *I know nothing about marching bands, tranquilizers or policing so I apologize for my ignorance.*
> 
> Silly little one-shot, let me know what you think in the comments below!

Nicole tried to stifle a yawn as she pulled one manilla folder out of the filing cabinet, before placing another one behind it. She had been at this, filing solved cases, for over two hours as the polyester of her uniform collar rubbed against her neck, resulting in an annoying, unwelcome red blotch and a reminder of the mundaneness that police work sometimes entailed. With two weeks left of summer, Nicole was losing faith that she’d see any real action before her internship with Sheriff Nedley was up and she had to return to Purgatory High for her final school year. Sure, she thanked her lucky stars that her girlfriend’s best friend was the Sheriff’s daughter, and that Sheriff Nedley took a chance on her, but a whole summer of refiling cases and missing animal reports that Lonnie messed up? Well, that’s enough to put anyone to sleep.

Nicole had been on a few safe calls with either Sheriff Nedley or Officer McMurray; but helping to convince old lady Tremblay that nobody was rifling through her garbage cans wasn’t the kind of action Nicole was hoping for. As the filing cabinet drawer shut, Nicole twisted her back, cracking the bones all along her vertebrae. With a small sense of relief, she moseyed back to her small makeshift desk outside of Nedley’s office. She didn’t have much in terms of personal effects; besides a mug full of pens, a notebook and a small framed copy of Waverly’s grade 11 photo, her desk was practically empty. The redhead sighed as she began journaling her daily events, hoping that keeping a running record of her internship duties would help her as she applied to the police academy next spring. Just as she closed her notebook and took a sip of bitter coffee, she heard the familiar crackling of the dispatch radio, and Brenda’s voice.

_“Available officers, we have a 415 at Tate Hill Farms...”_

“Hmm.” Nicole mumbled as she went through her mental rolodex of police codes. “Disturbance. Probably just Champ Hardy trying to tip cows in broad daylight _again_.” Nicole huffed to herself.

Brenda’s voice continued over the static of the radio, “ _Currently a 63s is in progress_ ”

Nicole lifted her left eyebrow in confusion, unfamiliar with the code, she referred to her handbook. Just as the redhead found the code and read “Sit in or protest”, Sheriff Nedley was halted in the doorway, placing his Stetson on his head. “C’mon Haught. This call is all you.” He nodded his head toward the photo of Waverly on her desk before meandering out to the front doors of the station.

“Damnit, Waves.” Nicole muttered under her breath as she placed her Purgatory PD baseball cap on her head, following the sheriff out the door.

* * *

Waverly heard the sirens, before she saw the cop car pull to a stop outside of the fence. She and Jeremy had successfully chained themselves to the barrier that led from the pasture to the Tate Hill Farms kill room. Herman Tate stood disgruntled, while trying to corral an abundance of bovines mooing in confusion. As Sheriff Nedley and Nicole exited the vehicle, Waverly’s voice blared out of the megaphone she was holding in her hand. “1, 2, 3, 4 no more animals on the kill room floor! 5, 6, 7, 8 their lives are worth more than your steaks!” Jeremy just nodded along, clearly nervous with the recent development of law enforcement being called.

With a nudge from Nedley, Nicole shuffled up to the rod iron fence and cupped her hands around her mouth, shouting to get Waverly’s attention. “WAVERLY! What are you doing?! How did you even get in there?”

Jeremy and Waverly shared a knowing look before kicking a small tool bag behind their feet that looked an awful lot like Wynonna’s B&E kit. Nicole rolled her eyes and continued. “Waverly Earp, Jeremy Chetri, unlock yourself now and let these men get back to work. You are trespassing on private property! Also, you both have band practice later and I’m not going to be the one to tell Mrs. Lucado why you aren’t there!”

 _Bad move, Haught_. She was met with a steely glare from the brunette. Waverly brought the megaphone back to her mouth. “Back to work, Nicole? These men are _KILLING_ innocent animals! And don’t get me started on the chickens! They can’t even move around in their cages and are advertised as free range. Did you know they boil them with their beaks on? Their frickin’ _beaks_ , Nic!”

Nicole huffed and rubbed her eyes with her index finger and thumb, before shooting Nedley a “please help” look. When the sheriff just chuckled in response, nudging his megaphone into her hands, she let out another defeated sigh before speaking into it. “Yeah, babe. I know…we watched that documentary together. But right now, you are trespassing on private property and disturbing the peace! If you don’t unchain yourself this instant, I’ll have no choice but to do it myself and have Sheriff Nedley take you in for questioning. Please, for the sake of my sanity, help me out here, Waves.”

Waverly and Jeremy locked eyes and nodded in solidarity before Jeremy grabbed the megaphone out of the brunette’s hands and shouted a definitive “MEAT IS MURDER!” He spiked the megaphone onto the ground like a football as the speaker screeched out with feedback. The high-pitched whirring noise was enough to make Nedley and Nicole cover their ears and ultimately riled up the cows.

Cattle moved around frantically as Herman tried to calm the animals down. One bovine, Bessie, was heading at full speed towards Jeremy and Waverly in search of an exit from the chaos.

“Bessie, no!” Nicole heard Herman yell. As soon as she looked up to see what was happening, she was met with the visual of Herman shooting what looked to be a tranquilizer gun. When the animal didn’t halt, he reloaded and fired off another dart. Soon, Bessie was conked out, blissfully subdued on the ground while the chaos around them dissipated.

“Haught, get the bolt cutter out of the bag in the trunk and unchain your friends, will ya?” Nedley huffed as he started towards Herman to gather details of the incident.

“Waverly!” Jeremy’s voice rang out. Nicole looked over at the two again and noticed that Waverly was slumped over and only held up by the chains wrapped around her body. In a panic, Nicole threw the bag over her shoulder and hopped the short fence, causing Herman and Nedley to take in the scene and notice the feathers of a tranquilizer dart stuck in Waverly’s thigh.

“Aw hell, Sheriff. I didn’t mean to hit the littlest Earp…Bessie was movin’ all willy-nilly and I thought I had a clear shot.” Herman rubbed his neck in apprehension.

“How long do those damn darts last, Tate?” Nedley snarled his lip under his bushy moustache.

“Enough to knock a 500-pound cow out for half an hour. A 100-pound town sweetheart? There’s no tellin’ how long it’ll take. Even after she comes to, she’ll probably be a bit loopy.” Herman chuckled nervously, fidgeting with the bill of his worn-out ball cap.

Nicole quickly slumped in front of her unconscious girlfriend and held the brunette’s head in her hands. After she made sure that Waverly was in fact breathing, she gave Waverly’s accomplice a warning look. “I thought I told you guys not to pull this kind of shit…especially this close to the start of senior year. You’re barely minors anymore; you could’ve been arrested!” She pulled the bolt cutters from the bag and threw the bag back to the ground. Protesting the meat industry was always on Waverly’s mind after watching these documentaries and Nicole knew all too well that Jeremy only served to rile her girlfriend up on the issue.

“We were trying to get a head start on Mr. Svane’s senior ethics assignment tha---” Jeremy’s eyebrows hiked in confusion, “why do you have bolt cutters in your bag?”

Nicole cut the lock that was on the chain, releasing tension before she started to unravel the whole contraption. “This is Purgatory, Jeremy, the Sheriff carries a lot of shit in this bag.” As Nicole unraveled the chain further, she noticed how intricate it all was. “How the hell did you guys get this all locked up like this?” She grunted in frustration.

Jeremy’s eyes were wide as he held Waverly up by the shoulders. “Hmm? Oh yeah” he giggled, “funny story…Robin might’ve helped and was hiding behind the chicken coop before you showed up. He has Waverly’s Jeep keys and that’s where I’m guessing he is now.” Nicole looked across the pasture and saw Waverly’s Jeep inconspicuously parked along some brush. Subtle movements confirmed the fact that Robin was hiding inside.

“Of course.” Nicole shook her head as she prepared herself to pick up Waverly. With a grunt, she had Waverly positioned bridal style in her arms. Even unconscious and with a large string of drool streaming out of her mouth, Nicole still thought she’s never seen anyone look more exquisite. She smiled down at her sleeping beauty before turning a concerned eye to Nedley.

After locking eyes briefly with Nicole, Nedley pulled Herman close and spoke in a hushed tone. “Here’s what we’re gonna do, Tate. You don’t tell anyone about this little stunt and I won’t tell anyone that you accidentally knocked out the nicest person in Purgatory three years running. They will fix the small damage to your fence, and will be reprimanded by doing community service, let’s say trash removal for the rest of the summer. Do we have an understanding?”

Herman nodded and wiped his brow. “Surely that’ll do Sheriff. That’ll do.”

With a swift pat on the back, Nedley waddled away from the eldest Tate and made his way over to his intern. Nicole shifted Waverly in her arms, somewhat uncomfortable with the dead weight of her girlfriend. “Haught, you take Waverly’s car and I’ll follow behind to the station. Bring them both with you.”

Jeremy raised a finger to interject. “Uh, erm, Mr. I mean Sheriff Nedley, Waverly and I really have band practice to get to, so we can’t really go to the station, sir.”

“But you had enough time for this little,” Nedley waved his hand around “demonstration. First thing’s first, we need to get Ms. Earp awake and then we will talk.” With a curt nod to Herman Tate, Nedley turned on his heels and closed the distance to his squad car.

Nicole huffed as she repositioned herself, quickly realizing that carrying Waverly as dead weight was more difficult than she originally planned. “So, let me get this straight, Jer. Since when did Mr. Svane’s ethics project requirements include committing a B&E? I don’t remember that bullet point from the syllabus.”

“We didn’t think it was going to escalate that quickly,” Jeremy motioned towards Waverly’s slumped body now thrown over Nicole’s shoulder. “Obviously.”

“Well it did! How could it not? You chained yourself and had a megaphone for shit’s sake! You’re just lucky it was Chrissy’s dad who responded to the call and not Officer McMurray. He would have cuffed you and thrown you in a holding cell!” Nicole rapped her knuckles against the passenger side window of the Jeep before raising her voice. “Unlock the door, Robin! I see you back there!”

There was a blanketed lump in the backseat with an unmistakable Nike trainer poking out. Robin peeked out to see his boyfriend, Nicole and a passed-out Waverly before providing a bashful smile and unlocking the door. Jeremy assisted Nicole with opening the door before Nicole gently placed Waverly’s body in the passenger seat. “That’s what we deserve, to be shackled like the poor animals in that death trap!” Jeremy responded defiantly as he shrugged Wynonna’s B&E kit off his shoulder and to the passenger side floor.

Nicole’s eyes widened a bit as she shook her head. Whenever Jeremy and Waverly discussed environmental issues they were both passionate about, they tended to rile each other up. Which, Nicole theorized, is how they have found themselves in this predicament. She closed the passenger door, after making sure Waverly was secured in the seat. She clapped Jeremy on the back with the palm of her hand as they rounded to the driver’s side of the SUV. “Easy there, PETA. I doubt Nedley will be as lenient the second time around.” Nicole opened the door and pulled the driver seat back so Jeremy could squeeze through to the back. “Get in.”

* * *

Back at the station, Nicole hovered over Waverly’s body as she laid peacefully on Nedley’s couch. Jeremy and Robin were escorted by Nedley to the break room. The Sheriff might have been tough on most Purgatorians, but when it came to his daughter and her friends, he was a big softie. Hence the preferential treatment of waiting in the break room instead of an interrogation room. Nicole waved the bottle of vapors underneath Waverly’s nose as she slowly came to.

Groggily, Waverly glanced around the room trying to place her current location. Her eyes eventually met Nicole’s deep brown irises staring back at her and she offered a loopy smile. “Hmm. Did I ever tell you how much I enjoy that uniform, Officer Haught?”

Nicole blushed deeply as Waverly’s hand went up to the collar of her shirt, tracing the polyester fabric between her fingers. The redhead clasped her hand over her girlfriend’s. If there was a place to get handsy, it sure wasn’t the couch in the Sheriff’s office. “Not an officer yet, babe.” She pushed off the couch and repositioned herself, now sitting in an office chair beside Waverly. “Here; follow my finger with your eyes so I can check you out.”

Waverly giggled, still feeling the effects of the tranquilizer. “You’re gonna check me out, eh?” the brunette wiggled her eyebrows before succumbing to a fit of laughter.

“Babe…”Nicole whined as she tried to maintain her workplace decorum.

Waverly exhaled and rolled her eyes. “Fine. You’re no fun.” Concentrating her eyes on Nicole, she followed all instructions as the redhead checked her vitals.

About ten minutes later, after Nicole ran all the little tests to make sure Waverly was in fact alright, she sandwiched Waverly’s hand between her own. “That was kind of a risky stunt to pull for a school project, Waves. Why didn’t you tell me what you were planning to do?”

Waverly shrugged her shoulders. “I didn’t want you to worry or jeopardize your internship for simply knowing about our protest. And yeah, it was probably a bit extreme, but Jeremy and I wanted to draw attention to the dark side of factory farms and raise awareness for plant-based food alternatives. Purgatorians rarely stray from their meat and potatoes diet, it’s hard to break people of that so we thought we’d have to go big for them to take us seriously.”

“Well, you certainly did that.” Nicole offered. She squeezed the palm in her hands and pressed her forehead against Waverly’s before continuing, “How about, for your assignment, instead of protesting at the farm, you can show people how easy it is to cook on a plant-based diet? That way, you can still draw from the concern of animal welfare, but I won’t lose any sleep thinking you’re in danger.”

Waverly melted at the concern swimming in Nicole’s eyes. She leaned forward to place a chaste kiss to Nicole’s lips. The brunette’s chapped lips were a bit acrid with the remnants of the tranquilizer pumping through her veins, but Nicole reciprocated the kiss, nonetheless. Waverly pecked her girlfriend’s lips once more before pulling away. “Gorgeous and smart. You’re quite the catch, Nicole Haught. Sorry for putting you in a tough position today, just, mob mentality must’ve gotten the best of me.”  
  


The redhead chuckled. “Mob mentality? It was literally only you and Jeremy, babe.”

“Shut it.” Waverly nudged Nicole with her shoulder as she slowly stood up on wobbly legs. Nicole’s hands clasped around the shorter girl’s midsection and remained close as they headed towards the office door.

The pair headed out into the bullpen of the police station, where they were met with the Sheriff, Robin and Jeremy. Nedley offered a courteous smile as Nicole’s hand came up to rest on Waverly’s shoulder, steadying the other girl. “Ms. Earp, I’ve spoken to Mr. Jett and Mr. Chetri here. We have come to an agreement that you will replace the small hole you created in the fence at Tate Hill Farms as your restitution. Collectively, you will also be cleaning up trash in all local area parks for community service for the remainder of the summer.”

Waverly nodded in understanding as she let out a meek “Yes. Understood, sir.”

Nedley confirmed the punishment with a firm head nod before turning towards his office. Robin and Jeremy excused themselves to get some fresh air just as Nicole’s 3 o’clock alarm went off on her watch, alerting her to the end of her shift at the station. She glanced at Waverly, knowing that band practice began soon. “Think you’ll be able to make it through practice, Ms. Loopy?”

Waverly scoffed. “I am just fine, thank you very much.” She took in the sight of her girlfriend in her uniform once more and bit her bottom lip. She definitely appreciated the khakis even though Nicole fought vehemently against them. Fingers crept up Nicole’s collar before wrapping around the back of Nicole’s neck. “Although, if you’d rather distract me, _Officer_.” Waverly husked just loud enough for Nicole to hear.

The redhead’s heartbeat sped up as she tried to remember her location. Deciding two could play that game, she lowered her lips to Waverly’s ear and whispered, smooth as honey, “Maybe after.”

* * *

Nicole sat on the hood of Waverly’s Jeep with her hoodie on and her traveler mug of coffee pressed to her lips. Dusk had just fallen over the school parking lot and the abrasive stadium lights harshly shone down on the band as they reset from their starting positions once more. They had been at it for hours now, just a typical marching band practice under the tutelage of one Jeannie Lucado. Nicole had lost count of how many band practices she had watched over the past few years as she and Waverly went from friends to more.

The redhead couldn’t help but smile against her coffee mug as she took in the ball of energy that was her girlfriend. There in the early hours of twilight, Waverly hopped from foot to foot with excitement, her heavy marching quads strapped to her chest. Lucado counted them in and soon the air was filled with the beautiful abruptness of the brass section before the percussion section joined in in perfect synchronization. Waverly pounded out her drum solo with a fevered perfection that only the brunette could pull off; even with powerful tranquilizers coursing through her bloodstream. Nicole knew then, that as long as she had Waverly in her orbit, there would never be a dull moment.


End file.
